Tennis net



March 9, 1937. J. R. SCHERER TENNIS NET Filed Aug. 26, 1935 INVE/Vrg7r.JoH/v CHERER ,Ey: W-

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Patented Mar. 9, 1937 UNITED STATES PATET OFFIE Claims.

This invention relates to a tennis net made of metal in a peculiarmanner.

One of the objects of this invention is to provide a resilient,flexible, durable, simple, eco- 5 nomic, safe, attractive, and noiselessnet with as clear a visibility as possible.

Another object is to provide a net that is easily installed, dismountedand reset, and lending itself readily for compact storing.

Another object is to provide a net that will not injure a tennis ball toany consequential extent.

Other objects will appear from the following description and appendedclaims as well as from the accompanying drawing, in which Fig. l is afragmentary front elevation of an assembled tennis net embodying thefeatures of my invention.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary detail front elevation of the top edgeconnection.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary top view of a member of the top edge connection.

Fig. i is a fragmentary front elevation of a portion of the net andupright end member.

Fig. 5 is a vertical section through the upright end member on line 5-iiof Fig. i.

Fig. 6 is a horizontal section through the end member on line :35 ofFig. 4.

To overcome the principal objections to metal tennis nets, which residelargely in the fact that different members of the net are notsuniciently interlocked resulting in offending noise, the net of thepresent invention is produced in a very specific and particular manner.

In the net proper, of which a portion is illustrated in detail in Fig.4, the verticals '5 are made of tempered steel spring wire, hotgalvanized and of suincient rigidity to withstand the impact of drivenballs and other forces to which such a net is subjected in ordinaryusage; while the horizontal member 8 are of annealed steel wires, hotgalvanized and selected for high tensile strength, and evenly twistedalternatingly left and right between the verticals. From theillustration in Fig. 4 it is obvious that portion or section A isclearly twisted contrary to the twisting of the nearest or adjoiningsections B or C; as is also section C twisted contrary to A or D; andalso section D is twisted contrary to sections B or C.

This arrangement assures satisfactory results along the lines indicatedabove and as principally required and desired;

The tension of the spring-steel verticals l readily yields to anyeventual slightest untwisting 55 motion or action of any of suchsections when the net as a whole is momentarily dented by any impact,but just as readily tends to return such section into proper condition,thereby maintaining the whole net in perfect tight and noiselesscondition.

The alternating twisting furthermore tends to eliminate any one-sidedwarping of the whole net, and the functioning of the spring-steelverticals helps to maintain the net as a whole in perfect alignment.

Along the upper and lower edges of the whole net suitably strong cables9 are arranged so that the upper and lower ends 10 of the verticals Ican be secured, the verticals i being bent over as illustrated in Fig.4, and the terminations [2 are crimped in between the twistedhorizontals 6 as indicated at H, the directions of the crimpings beingvaried according to the alternations of the twistings of thehorizontals, to thereby form a rigidly interconnected and intermeshednetwork.

Upright end members l3 serve to secure and stretch the horizontals 6,the members l3 being hollow to receive a wedge It by which the ends ofthe horizontals are bent and secured in the members l3, as indicated at28, the wedge It being provided with a longitudinal groove l5 thatallows a driving of the wedge [4 into the hollow members l3 so as toforce the ends 28 of the horizontals into bent positions, securelylocked in the end members i 3.

The wedge or core M may be of any suitable material, such as metal orhardwood.

At the top and bottom end, each of the endmembers it is closed by aclosing member or knob l5, illustrated in detail in Fig. 5, each knobbeing off-set or shouldered as at H, against which the ends of theend-members l3 abut, and grooved as at IS, by which the hollow endmembers are secured to the knobs as illustrated.

A set screw [9 is provided to anchor the knob i5 and thereby theend-members l3 in proper positions on the cables 9, the whole net beingpreferably prestretched before delivery or installation and the setscrew secured in place after such prestretching, to eliminate stretchingafter a net is installed.

For tightening the cables 9, a lug 20 is provided on each end of thecables, the lug being hollowed to fit snugly on the cable-end, and,after the cable-end is inserted into the hollow of the lug, impressionsare made as at 2|, distorting the inserted cable, as indicated in dottedlines, making a reliable connection.

The opposite end of the lug 2B is slotted to receive a connecting link23, link and lug being apertured for the bolt 24.

Another lug is also designed to similarly engage the opposite end of thelink 23, besides being designed to hold one end of the adjusting bolt26, the adjusting bolt serving to adjustably hold the whole net to thestandard, of which there is one on each end of the complete structure,two cables being connected to each of the standards.

When so mounted, a net may be adjusted for any desired or required sagor droop, from the extreme to a comparatively level line.

For longitudinal adjustments, the link 23 is provided with perforations29, so that it merely requires a shortening or cutting ofi of the endsof the links to allow an inserting of the bolts 24 in the next holes.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:-

1. In a tennis net, horizontal and end edge members, upright membersstretched between upper and lower horizontal edge members and uniformlyspaced between end edge members, horizontal members stretched betweenend edge members and uniformly spaced between the upper and lower edgemembers, the end members being hollow and having apertures to receivethe ends of the horizontal members, and means inserted into the edgemembers and designed for bending and locking the ends in the end edgemembers.

2. A tennis net consisting of intermeshed and crossing groups of softtwisted wire and tempered spring steel wire for maintaining the group oftwisted wire in properly wound condition, the spring steel wire groupbeing bent at points of in termeshing with the twisted wire group formaintaining an evenly meshed spaced relation, and the soft wire beingtwisted alternately left and right with loop-portions between thetwisted portions designed and formed to firmly engage the bent-portionsof the spring steel wire so as to maintain a parallelogrammaticallyspaced network with resiliency due to the spring wire.

3. In a tennis net, longitudinally stretched upper and lower edgemembers, end members secured to and braced between said edge members,wires stretched between and with their opposite ends bent over the edgemembers, other wires secured to and stretched between the end membersand twisted alternately left and right between the first-named wires andthe end members and having portions engaging over the first-named wires,the said ends of the first-named wires extending into said portions ofthe twisted wires next to said edge members so as to form suificientlylarge loops about said upper and lower edge member providing fordesirable lateral yielding and sliding of the whole network of saidwires on the edge members.

4. In a tennis net, a network of wires having connecting and supportingterminals at the opposite ends of the network, hollow uprights havingapertures in one side spaced to correspond to the spacing of wires inthe network to receive said terminals, and a locking member for each ofsaid uprights and designed to fit into the hollow thereof and havingmeans whereby said terminals can be bent and locked within the uprights.

5. In a tennis net, a network of wires having connecting and supportingterminals at the opposite ends, hollow uprights having aperturesarranged to receive said terminals, and locking members groovedlongitudinally and fitting into the hollow of the uprights for bendingand looking the terminals therein.

JOHN R. SCHERER.

